


Where A Flower May Find The Truth

by SecondStarfall (beantiger)



Series: The Second Starfall Stories [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Best Friends, Botany, Castles, Conflict Resolution, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Fantasy, Female Friendship, Flash Fic, Flowers, Gen, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, LGBTQ Female Character, Medieval, Microfic, Monsters, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Royalty, Science Experiments, Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22021072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beantiger/pseuds/SecondStarfall
Summary: I DEVOUR TRUTHS. TELL ME YOUR TRUEST DESIRE, said the horrid blossom, IF YOU WANT YOUR TOWER. I WILL BE SATED."Love," said the soon-to-be royal botanist. "True love."***How a royal botanist defeated a flower—without a drop of bloodshed.
Series: The Second Starfall Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582975
Kudos: 14





	Where A Flower May Find The Truth

**Author's Note:**

> This is a version of the original Twitterfic, same title, posted over at my now-deactivated personal account in December 2019. It has been given minor edits for consistency with other stories and readability on AO3. ❤️ 
> 
> **SUGGESTED RE-READING:** If you haven't yet read ["The Botanist's Most Important Failure"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21990349) and ["A Good Queen Is Good To Have,"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22005889) go check those out first, since they lead directly into this story.
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨

"I will not be crowned without you," said the future queen, "except..."

***

The girl who loved flowers approached the abandoned far tower from the parapet, unarmed. Its current tenant slithered out from under the door and bloomed monstrously in front of the girl. 

Ah, how the old king's apothecary loved his experiments.

 _I DEVOUR TRUTHS. TELL ME YOUR TRUEST DESIRE,_ said the horrid blossom, _IF YOU WANT YOUR TOWER. I WILL BE SATED._

"Love," said the soon-to-be royal botanist. "True love."

Dipping and ducking its bulbous pistil, the blossom growled.

_NO ONE HAS EVER SIMPLY...TOLD ME—_

"Don't put roots down in the capital if you want the truth. Go literally anywhere but here."

The innumerable vines receded. A flurrying, flapping sound echoed through the parapet, and then the girl—the royal botanist—sensed an emptiness within the tower.

***

Later, she reported to her friend, the future queen, who wiped the botanist's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Oh, what did it do to you? What did it do to you, darling?"

"Not a thing. It's gone."

"It killed three of my best—"

"I am your botanist now. And that's my tower." The botanist wept until she sensed her friend's shaking arms around her shoulders. They held each other for a long time, royal and servant.

***

Miles away, seas away, forests and villages away, ruins and wars away, the monstrous blossom reached the botanist's home country.

It waited.

Two young men came forth. The blossom leaned down its pistil into their hands as they whispered.

_AH. I SEE. THANK YOU._

"Thank you," the pair murmured back, and laced their fingers together.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or a kudos or whatever the heck if this tickled your fancy. There shall be more! ❤️
> 
> ✨ [[see the full SecStar timeline](https://secondstarfall.com/index.php/Official_Timeline) | [check out the SecStar wiki](https://secondstarfall.com/)] ✨
> 
>  **AUTHOR'S COMMENTARY:** Non-violent confrontation for the win. Also, I enjoy the idea of the botanist as this character who does incredible things, but doesn't really comprehend them (and is also kind of difficult to deal with, as we see in later stories). I have a few characters like this in _Second Starfall._ Ordinary folks who think their legendary actions are also ordinary. I think we're all a little like that, with our own personal legends.


End file.
